
As you can imagine, December was a busy time at The Loyola School. It was “a holly jolly time” full of excitement and anticipation.
Our students caught the Holiday Spirit early, making Christmas decorations and reading holiday stories. The preschoolers loved their sing-along with the Friends School Chorus, which performed for them. The elementary students enjoyed a matinee of “Black Nativity,” the Nativity story told from a Black perspective with music, poetry, dance and Scripture. They loved going down the street — during school hours — to see a live performance and it was a wonderful way to connect with the arts.
There were lots of other activities as well – making dough ornaments, dressing up for Grinch Day, teaming up to read to one another.
No matter what the season, however, every day brings “laughter and learning,” one of our preschooler teachers said. The October field trip to a pumpkin farm was particularly exciting. Each child picked a pumpkin; “we had fun decorating them and counting the seeds,” said Erica Meadows, the school director.
“In addition to language arts and math, the elementary students are studying ancient cultures and contemporary communities in social studies and animal classifications, landforms and natural disasters in science,” said Greta Rutstein, school principal.
The students learned an important lesson in being people for others as they helped organize food donated to Viva House, the Baltimore Catholic Worker House, for Thanksgiving. They, too, were recipients of charitable deeds. The Knights of Columbus Coats for Kids campaign made a stop at TLS to distribute winter gear.
There is so much positive energy at school. Our 121 students had so many opportunities to learn and grow this year.
After winter break and two snow days, our children are back in their classrooms, diving into new lessons and experiences. Stay tuned for fun.
– Mary Maushard






